Let's Read The Monster Manual II: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Fight Them

[Talakeal]

Does anyone have dibs on the Tarrasque?

I would love to take a swing at it if not.

[DerKommissar]

Does anyone have dibs on the Tarrasque?

I would love to take a swing at it if not.

Go for it :)

[the_brazenburn]

Succubus/Incubus

Oh god, this thing has caused some problems. The succubus is perhaps the most controversial creature in D&D, probably because it is a FREAKING SEX DEMON! That obviously does not go over well with certain religious groups. It doesn't help that the art is pure fanservice and that it kills by kissing. Recently, the incubus has been added as a viable alternative to the succubus, probably to distance D&D from it's reputation as a male-centric game. At least that's something...

Art: I hate this art with a vengeance.

That's personal preference, of course, but I still loathe it. The art is pure fanservice, the wings and all the leather get on my nerves, and to be honest, the whole thing just looks like something from those Twilight movies (yes, I know they're about vampires, not demons). Can't look at it for more than a few moments before my eyes want to shrivel up.

Fluff: The fluff, on the other hand, is not bad at all. I like that they are now able to change genders at will (a possible nod to the recent transgender movements?), that they tempt their victims in their dreams, and that whole "sins in thought, word, and deed" thing. It's interesting that they are no longer demons, but neutral evil fiends that can be found in the Abyss or the Hells.

Stats and Tactics: At CR 4, the succubus isn't particularly dangerous to high-level parties, so it'll try to avoid combat with adventurers until it can gauge their power. If it needs to get rid of them, it'll probably start by sending charmed minions after them, or by negotiating. With proficiency in essentially all conversational skills and a godlike Charisma, parley is certainly an option. It may even use this as a chance to catch them off guard and charm a low-Wis member of the party. If all else fails, the succubus is capable of combat, though it would rather not engage. It would generally focus on charming whenever possible, since that gives it minions on the ground and the chance to use its kiss. As a fiend, its priority is on causing maximum harm to humankind, so if it is losing, it will command its charmed minion to get close before administering the Draining Kiss as a coup de grace.

Hooks:

A local nobleman has recently acquired a new girlfriend from a far-off land. The townsfolk are unhappy, complaining that a stench of brimstone hangs around her. The players must investigate this threat.

Ye Olde Town has had a string of recent disappearances. Each victim turned up later with no apparent wounds except for a single blood-red lipstick mark on their faces. Who could the murderer be?

A local house of ill repute has a dark secret: the owner is a glabrezu breeding an army of cambions with his staff of succubi. What will happen when this dark army is set upon the countryside?

Verdict: A somewhat interesting monster that will not have a place at some tables and has an unfortunate potential for problematic situations.

[Talakeal]

Another Succubus Hook:

The Long Con:
The evil mastermind has come up with a particularly devious scheme to cripple the party, not just physically but also spiritually. They have found an especially skilled and subtle Succubus to take on the identity of the ideal mate of a particularly romantic hero. After a chance meeting the succubus slowly worms her way into the hero's heart, until they believe they have found their one true love (if they promise their heart of soul to the succubus as a romantic gesture, all the better.) Then, just before the evil mastermind is ready to launch his final scheme, the succubus allows her true nature to be "accidentally" revealed, though not her connection to the villain. How will the hero react? With righteous fury? Will he give up on the concept of love entirely? Slip into depression? Or maybe decide that his love is more valuable than his virtue and join his bride in darkness?

Flip the gender of the hero and / or replace succubus with incubus as needed.

Go for it :)

Cool beans. I should have it done by next week.

[Envyus]

I have no issue with the Succubus and Incubus art.

It's perfectly fits them for what they are. Attractive beings that freely change themselves to be more attractive to their target.

[VoxRationis]

Honestly, I like the art for the succubus because it's less provocative than might be expected of such a creature (certainly less so than for previous editions' incarnations). The succubus is attractive enough for desire to cloud your thoughts without being so obvious that it heightens your resistance to any such notion. "She's not trying to kiss or kill me immediately. Perhaps I'll hear her out..."

The shirtless incubus, perhaps, not so much. Not being attracted to men, I cannot really say how provocative it is.

[DerKommissar]

In my campaign i used a -cubus as an evil mastermind. The approach was to omit the whole sex thing, but have it use its charm to gain influence and bring people to kill each other which would add to its soul count and help it raise in power. They encountered it now two times and became extremely paranoid:

1) They met people fleeing from a town where witch burnings were going on. A charismatic new priest in town managed to convince people that evil witches were amongst them and they had to purge them. Guess who the priest was. In the end the heroes witnessed a witch burning and of course they tried to intervene resulting in a battle between pitchfork commoners and the heroes. The incubus was glad for the souls of farmers the heroes provided and the party is now forever tainted with the slaughter of more than two dozen corrupted but technically innocent farmers (a fact, that their current ‘employer’, an aboleth who read their minds and knows about it uses to force them to do his biddings [idea of course inspired by Baldurs Gate 2]).

2) Two cities lie on the same river. The one upstream started to impose very high taxes on the one downstream to let goods pass through. The idea for the tax came from a new charming merchant in town who gained influence quickly. In the end the tax lead to a military conflict between the two cities, which the tax imposing one won, complete with rebel groups forming, guerilla warfare, atrocities, etc. Guess who the charming merchant was? At that point the heroes were really quick in discovering who this ‘merchant’ could be, but they had a really hard time proving it and in the end didn’t manage in time to prevent the war.


So as evil shape changing tricksters they work very well in my experience. The whole “sex demon thing” is an option of course, but by specifically omitting it I managed to create a villain who my players really started to hate and fear.

[Vessyra]

To be honest, I don't find the art eye-catching. Good enough that I can believe that this is a fiendish temper/temptress, but I don't think that it counts as fan service if it isn't eye-catching.

But that's just my opinion on the art, which is naturally going to differ from others. One day, perhaps, some artist will be able to get that balance just right... one day.

I do think that the above post on changing them from sex demons into deceptive shape changers is quite good. Sure, monster A might not work for your group, but a few slight changes can make it fit in perfectly.

[Talakeal]

The Tarrasque

When I was a kid my two favorite things in the world were Dungeons and Dragons and Godzilla. The Tarrasque is the perfect fusion of both. A classic Kaiju to rampage across the fantasy world.

When the tarrasque was first introduced in 1983’s Monster Manual II it was arguably the strongest monster in the game. Over the years it has changed little, but its title as top dog has been significantly eroded over the years, as epic level play became a thing, and with it epic level monsters that dwarfed the tarrasque; and even the stronger non-epic monsters got a bit of a power boost so that there where plenty of monsters to populate the CR 16-20 range.

The 5E tarrasque attempts to take back its crown with a CR of 30 and some of the highest numerical scores in the entire game. But does it hold up?


Origin:
The tarrasque has an origin in medieval French mythology. It was said to be the child or the fire dragon Onachus and the biblical sea monster Leviathan. It was a six limbed beast that more resembled a bullette or a dragon turtle than the D&D tarrasque, but it still spread terror far and wide before it was tamed by Saint Martha. The people of France then tore the passive monster to shreds, but they would eventually come to regret their decision and name the town of Tarascon after the beast.

Of course, the tarrasque in D&D owes far more to Godzilla and his fellow Kaiju than its mythological counterpart. A massive reptilian beast that sleeps for years on end only to periodically emerge from its lair, stomp a few cities, teach man a lesson about their true place in the world, and then seem to be defeated by some crazy new super weapon only to return time and time again.


Art:

Spoiler: Image

Show

This is a beautiful piece. It does will to convey the size and power of the monster. The text says the tarrasque is 50’ tall and 70’ long (I am assuming this doesn’t count the tail as this creature is clearly more than 1.4 times as long as it is tall) and it looks every bit that large in the picture. The clouds in the background and the tiny flocks of birds really give it that sense of scale.

In the early years the tarrasque was much fatter and more humanoid, often depicted as a cross between the Rancor of Star Wars fame and King Koopa from Mario brothers. Each subsequent edition made the monster more natural and animalistic, emphasizing the stooped stance, making the horns longer and more numerous, and having the carapace cover more and more of the creature’s body.

I personally think this edition goes a bit too far, making it look like a cross between an ankylosaur and Roland Emmerich’s “Godzilla”. It doesn’t really have the look of a supernatural menace meant to end the world, instead it comes across to me as just a really big dinosaur.


Purpose and Tactics:
Ok, so here is the thing about the Tarrasque; it is in a really odd place.
It is too powerful for most parties to take in a head on fight. It is really more of a puzzle monster.

The problem with that is two-fold:
1: In this day and age anyone can go online and look up a strategy for soloing the tarrasque at level one.
2: Such fights typically involve quickly taking out the tarrasque with something it has no resistance to (for example ability drain or mind control in 3E) or simply whittling it down by attacking it for a long period of time while it is unable to strike back (for example while flying, incorporeal, or being faster than it and harassing it with ranged weapons). These tactics are clean and efficient, but make for very boring gameplay.

Previous editions have found plenty of ways to try and shore up the tarrasque’s defenses; crazy fast regeneration, immunity to non-epic weapons, the ability to shoot spines, requiring a wish spell to kill, the ability to burrow, a gravity aura that limited flight in its presence, and even what is arguably the most puzzling rule in gaming history: “Note: Creatures with a minus THAC0 can only be hit on a 1.”
And in 5E they went with… none of these.
So, you have a really weird case where you have a monster who can go toe to toe with the best of the best, but can be taken out relatively easily by a halfway intelligent character who is willing to fight dirty.

Ok let’s dig a little deeper:

The tarrasque has very high AC and HP (iirc the highest in the book).

The tarrasque is proficient in Int, Wis, and Cha saves. This makes for a more balanced encounter, but it still seems odd that this big brute has all mental saving throws.

Blindsight is helpful.

Immunity to fire, poison, non-magic weapons, charm, fright, and paralysis. That is a decent list, but not nearly as exhaustive as in some editions. Still, the immunity to non-magic weapons makes it at least somewhat difficulty to swarm with minions, and it doesn’t have the glaring weakness to mind effects that it did in previous editions.

Magic resistance and legendary resistance x3. Decent, but nothing special for a boss monster.

The carapace rule is just stupid in this edition. It provides immunity to magic missiles, lines, and any spell that requires an attack roll, and has a 1 in 6 chance of reflecting the attack on the caster. The thing is, with blanket immunity and only a 1/6 chance of happening, the reflection is unlikely to ever come up. Even a caster with no idea of what the tarrasque is or does will probably get the hint that the monster is immune and stop wasting their spell slots trying to blast the tarrasque before the reflect comes up. I personally would have tweaked the rule something like 1-2 the tarrasque is hit normally, 3-4 no effect, 5-6 the attack is reflected so that the mage actually has a reason to try these spells and a chance of the reflect actually mattering. Still, it makes it a bit harder to take out the tarrasque with simple cantrips and a flight spell.

Frightful presence is all right, but you get a save every round, and it never lasts more than a minute. If you either save or wait out the full minute you are immune for 24 hours. That is really underwhelming. One saving grace is that the tarrasque can choose who is and isn’t affected during each of its turns. Some people may argue that this isn’t within the spirit of the rule, or beyond the capabilities of a 3 int beast, but a clever tarrasque could choose to focus its fear on one or two party members at a time, essentially splitting the party and disrupting their group synergy at just the wrong moment.

Swallow is fairly nasty, but do keep in mind that the damage for being swallowed is purely acidic in nature and doesn’t do a whole lot to hurt spell-casting. Indeed, a wizard who is immune to acid might actually be safer inside the tarrasque than on the outside! Also note that anyone in the stomach is blinded and that nothing says the carapace stops working against spells cast within its belly.

And finally, we have legendary actions, which are a nice bit of damage and mobility, but nothing to really write home about, and the extra 20’ of movement speed is unlikely to actually allow the tarrasque to close with people who refuse to engage it.


So, if you are lucky enough to have a group of players who are both good at optimizing characters but fairly straight-forward kick in the door style players when it comes to tactics you can actually use the tarrasque as the legendary end-boss monster it is meant to be.
If not, you have to get a bit more creative. Use the tarrasque as a force of nature rather than a monster, make the threat not so much the monster itself as the collateral damage it can wreak. Have a secondary objective!
Also, make sure to fight the creature in a fairly crowded area such as a city. Keep lines of site short and give it plenty of places to hide. This will also allow it to make use of its siege monster ability to reshape the terrain to its liking, as well as giving it plenty of rocks to hurl at pesky flyers.


Fluff:
The classic tarrasque fluff is all there, but it is a bit anemic. It is a huge monster, perhaps the most dreaded of all, that is probably the only one of its kind. It is motivated purely by hunger, and it can destroy entire towns at once. The text also mentions that it is incorporated into some religions, and may be a minion of the gods which is called upon to enact divine judgement.
I really would have preferred that they up the scale of the threat. The tarrasque doesn’t eat towns, it eats nations. In a low power world, it is a civilization ending threat, a walking extinction level event. The monster to end all monsters.
Previous editions have also played up the mysterious and elemental nature of the creature, hypothesizing that it was a product of forgotten gods (perhaps the elder elemental god) sent to avenge them on the mortal world. I think this approach works great if you have a cosmology like 4E or Greek mythology where an older group of more nature-based gods were defeated and supplanted by the modern deities.
Also, without its trademark regeneration the tarrasque begins to look much more mortal. It is no longer the unstoppable force that can only be temporarily driven off or put back to sleep, in 5E if you can defeat it you can kill it.
Again, all of the elements of the tarrasque are there, but without some creative game mastering it is really going to come across looking like more of a really big dinosaur than fantasy Godzilla.


Adventure Hooks:
The citizens of the empire are prosperous and happy, with heroes like the PCs to protect them from all the evils of the world. One day an archeologist comes to a startling realization; that human civilization mysteriously collapses every thousand years with clockwork regularity. Furthermore, the ruins of the most recent civilization look to have been abandoned exactly 999 years ago…

A vile cult of madmen or a group of savages who dwell in the hills want to see the world of men come to an end. They have found the sleeping form of the tarrasque, and even now perform a ritual to wake it prematurely if they are not stopped.

The party finds themselves directly in the path of two battling monsters. One of them is the tarrasque, the other is something else; a kraken, an ancient dragon, a roc, a titan, or possibly a demon lord or even another tarrasque. The heroes don’t have a prayer of defeating them both, a far bigger challenge will be to simply slip past unseen and not get crushed or incinerated in the crossfire. Of course, a more ambitious party might try allying with one of the creatures or even hiding until the battle is over and attacking the victor while they are still weary and wounded.

The tarrasque is sleeping, not to wake for a hundred years. The PCs are approached with an insane business offer, to find its lair and then discover a way to harvest the creature’s body without killing, or even waking it. It is said that the beasts hide can be made into the greatest armor known to man, and all sorts of potions and treasures can be made from its blood.

So, you found the sleeping tarrasque, and you could indeed endlessly harvest its body for all manner of treasure after finding the proper magical ritual to keep it asleep. Of course, there was also the flesh, and it was hard to turn down that much endlessly regenerating meat when the common people of the kingdom are starving. And so, you began to distribute tarrasque steaks to the populace. Of course, it wasn’t long before people started acting strangely, and no one was really surprised when the first peasant turned into a giant monster and began rampaging through the country side and devouring his former neighbors. Of course, he was only the first…

The vile lord of all liches is slain, but his phylactery remains, whispering terrible blasphemies and corrupting anyone and anything in its presence. The phylactery is impervious to everything, from volcanoes to holy avengers, but one sage thinks he knows of a way to destroy it for good; it is said that there is a legendary beast who can digest literally anything. Finding the creature and throwing the artifact down its throat would be hard enough, but the beast refuses to keep such cursed steel down. It is determined that it must be tricked into swallowing the amulet, like a dog with a pill. Someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice and allow themself to be devoured while wearing the amulet. Will the players sacrifice a brave and strong-willed paragon to this task? Or will they find some patsy, who may well give in to the whispers and abscond with the amulet only to become the new host to the lich lord’s immortal soul?

The players have defeated the evil overlord, and within the basements of his twisted tower they find a mysterious egg. It soon hatches into an unusual creature that is equally awkward and adorable, and with an insatiable love of snacks. It quickly bonds with the party, but it grows rapidly and its hunger seems endless. Soon it becomes too large to control, and too impractical to feed, and maybe it also happens to be the beast of the end times that is prophesized to destroy the world? Will the party be able to find a way to deal with their beloved pet before it is too late?

The tarrasque is evolving. The party thought themselves true bad-asses when they defeated it, but three days later it rose again with a new adaptation. Each time it is killed it comes back with a new ability that counters the tactics that were used against its previous incarnation. Will the party be able to keep coming up with new tricks to defeat the monster long enough to find a way to put it out of commission for good?

In the heart of the Imperial City the god-empress has slept for a thousand years. It is said that she will soon awaken and bring about a new era of harmony and prosperity for the entire world. But now the great devourer is rampaging through the capitol and the eternal palace is directly in its path. The royal guard is utterly incapable of deterring this monster, and desperately look for heroes who can put an end to the beast or drive it off quickly, or else all will be lost.

The evil arch-mage has found a way to bind the tarrasque to his will and has sent it to destroy the lands of these good king whose champions have opposed his foul sorcery in the past. Can the heroes defeat the great beast? Can they do it before all of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men are swallowed up (to say nothing of the peasants, and the courtiers, and the princesses, and the king himself…). And what will the heroes do when they realize that this is less an act of revenge than a distraction, for even now the evil arch-mage is performing a foul ritual that will reshape the world forever if he is not stopped immediately.

The tarrasque is impossible. Its metabolism simply makes no sense. Where is it getting the mass for its endless regeneration? How does it survive eating a hundred times its own body weight in one sitting? The crazy old wizard simply must know. When the PCs come to him for a grand favor, he will only help them in exchange for the still living heart of the tarrasque, so that he can study its alien anatomy from the inside out.

Sure, the tarrasque destroys civilization every time it awakes, but then it goes back to sleep and lets the world replenish itself. The Great Old One, not so much, this foul horror from beyond the stars will corrupt and annihilate everything, leaving only a twisted hellscape in its wake for all eternity. There is only one thing in the world that stands a chance against the Great Old One in direct combat… do the heroes dare attempt to awaken the great devourer prematurely, potentially sacrificing all those who currently live in an attempt to preserve the future of humanity as a whole?


Verdict:
A truly uninspired rendition of a truly classic monster.

I highly recommend tweaking the tarrasque’s stats and abilities to challenge your specific party, and if you do use it as written you need to be very careful to pick just the right scenario to avoid a fight that is either a frustrating TPK or a complete (and likely very boring) joke.

[sambojin]

Great write-up. Cheers

[Vessyra]

Great write-up, I especially like the... eleven plot hooks. I haven't even been able to think of one use for the Tarrasque, and then you come and write up elven. Nice work on, really writing up the Tarrasque as it should be.

[Sharur]

Seconding praise for the non-sexual succubus and the entirety of the Tarrasque write-up.

From a publication history standpoint, the succubus has had a bit of a wild ride. With the game from the beginning, it was a demon through 3rd edition, but became a devil for 4th edition.

Also, I would note that a sucubus/incubus being the same creature is not necessarily new, at least mythologically speaking: the idea has been around since at least the 1600s, per Wikipedia.

Mechanically, I feel the succubus is much a bigger threat than the_brazenburn portrays. Firstly, at CR4 its supposed to be a normal challenge for a level 4 party, not a boss, at least combat wise. For such a party, the succubus is an impressive threat. The party probably has at best 50/50 odds of warding off the Succubus's charm. Should they fail, the succubus gains absolute control . While the sucubus's non-charmed minion damage is not significant, it is hard to bring down, with a combination of a massive fly speed, a myriad of resistances both elemental and physical, and the ability to become etheral more-or-less at will. A level 4 party would have a difficult time trapping the succubus if it decided to flee. Additionally, it's Draining Kiss does massive amounts of damage. A level 4 wizard is a near goner even with full health, as the Succubus can one-shot them 90% of the time; even a Barbarian can be oneshot from full health, albeit only about 6% of the time, although those numbers rise even high if the party is battered from fighting.

For a higher level party, the succubus would be a minion, but still a dangerous one, unless the party contains a paladin, especially a devotion paladin. While the more sagacious party members may be , the more reckless party members might be just as vulnerable to it charm as they were at level 4, and the succubus's Draining Kiss is still a threat; while its damage does not scale, the maximum hitpoint reduction means that it is still a major consideration at higher levels.


With regards to the Terrasque, I think I like it more than Talakeal does, quite possibly due to not having a history with it. Specifically, I
looked at four things:

1) First, an oversight, but the Tarrasque does have an automatic grapple (and restrained, for that matter) built into it's Bite attack, alongside 4d12+10 damage, with a hefty DC 20 to escape. It can also turn combo quite evilly with the Legendary Actions: Fred the Fighter is bitten, so Brad the Bard gives him Bardic Inspiration to Aid his escape...nope, the Terrasque swallowed him as a Legendary Action.


2) Second, and this is probably personal taste, but I quite like the art, but especially because of the exact things that Talakeal does not like about it.

It doesn’t really have the look of a supernatural menace meant to end the world, instead it comes across to me as just a really big dinosaur.

. I don't think that the Terrasque should be a "supernatural" menace. It should be a super NATURAL threat; not to the world, but to live as the PCs know it, or at least civilization. I like the "dinosaur" look, as it goes to how ancient it should be (unless your campaign has still living dinosaurs in it...but 5e dinosaurs are pathetic next to dragons and the like).

However, I find it a bit close to the 3rd edition form; I would have liked some more original art than a different angle of the 3e Terrasque, with some more skin texture

Spoiler: Spoiler: 3e Terrasque

Show

.


3) Third, the reason for "this big brute has all mental saving throws" is that it can't, within bounded accurate have better Strength and Constitutions saves. They are already at +10; if the Terrasque addewd its Proffiency bonus(of +9!) to them, they'd be unbeatable at +19. Dex the only weakness, because a) its gargantuan so it can't really get out of the way, and b) Dex saves are generally just to avoid damage, which the Terrasque is designed to tank.

4) Finally, I don't think the challenge of the Terrasque should be "can you kill the Terrasque". It should be "can you kill the Terrasque with what you have left". D&D has always been about attricion, especially 5e. The Terrasque shouldn't pop-up as the party is walking around after having a nice breakfast. It should be the campaign climax, after the prime boss. Oh, you decided to deal with the murderous Archfey by storming the Feywild and slaughtering them? Well, now you've unbalenced the Fey Courts and now the Terrasque has awakened.

I too wish they Terrasque had more tricks (although I quite like the reflective carapace). I would note that if we compare the three monsters in the MM that are CR 23 and up (Empyrean, Kraken, and Terrasque), then the Terrasque outstrips its rivials in everything but Mobility (and on land, it still beats the Kraken), and Range.

[DerKommissar]

Great entry! I was also underwhelmed by the big T, but My guess is, that bounded accuracy and Tarrasque-Style monsters might not work well.

The whole „tarrasque is used for food“ spawned a long thread with 3e rules, where they envisioned a kingdom based on an endlessly butchered andceaten Tarrasque. IIRC it was a good read:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?thre...rasque.261519/

[VoxRationis]

Mechanically, I feel the succubus is much a bigger threat than the_brazenburn portrays. Firstly, at CR4 its supposed to be a normal challenge for a level 4 party, not a boss, at least combat wise. For such a party, the succubus is an impressive threat. The party probably has at best 50/50 odds of warding off the Succubus's charm. Should they fail, the succubus gains absolute control . While the sucubus's non-charmed minion damage is not significant, it is hard to bring down, with a combination of a massive fly speed, a myriad of resistances both elemental and physical, and the ability to become etheral more-or-less at will. A level 4 party would have a difficult time trapping the succubus if it decided to flee. Additionally, it's Draining Kiss does massive amounts of damage. A level 4 wizard is a near goner even with full health, as the Succubus can one-shot them 90% of the time; even a Barbarian can be oneshot from full health, albeit only about 6% of the time, although those numbers rise even high if the party is battered from fighting.

For a higher level party, the succubus would be a minion, but still a dangerous one, unless the party contains a paladin, especially a devotion paladin.

The succubus is, as it was in days past, very much an out-of-combat terror. And it is a terror. Shape-changing, flight, and etherealness, combined with the intelligence and charisma to worm its way into any particular social situation, and the ability to make a thrall out of people with legitimate access to an area or object? Such a creature is a master infiltrator, and having a single such agent in the right place can be many times more effective than simply having a tougher combat fiend. My group recently used succubi to great effect in taking down a fort and artillery emplacement network.

[M Placeholder]

Sorry for the delay, Life got in the way.

Will have the Thri-Kreen done by tomorrow.

[Mith]

For the succubus hook, I have to plug the Tales of Wyre, an inckmplete epic story of a Paladin who trusted a Succubus cry for redemption.

As for the Tarassque, I would put back in place regeneration and can only be banished with a Wish/Miracle after being reduced to 0 hp. I also like the idea of making it a flying serpent, so that it has it's move speed. Now it has a set move speed. Throw an obstacle up, it moves through it. Walls of force? It moves through it sacrificing half it's movement.

[the_brazenburn]

I would like to reserve the Will-o'-the-Wisp. I've got a few ideas for what to do with it.

[M Placeholder]

Thri Kreen

History

The thri - Kreen first appeared as part of the second set of Monster Cards in 1982, then were part of the Monster Manual II released the following year.

The kreen really came into their own as one of the 6 playable races as part of the original Dark Sun Campaign Setting in late 1991. They even got their own sourcebook, Thri-Kreen of Athas in 1995 in which the history of the Kreen, the structure of their groupings and their mindset was explored, and had rules for a number of different subraces for the Dark Sun setting..

In the 3rd edition, the Thri-Kreen appeared in the Dark Sun update in Dragon#319 as a playable race and in the Psionics Handbook, and appeared as a playable race in the Forgotten Realms sourcebook Shining South. The major change was regarding the lack of an abdomen, possibly to make the creatures actually medium sized instead of large in previous editions. The DS3 fan update of Dark Sun kept the creatures much the same as in the previous editions for a player race.

In 4th edition, they were one of the playable races for both the Nentir Vale setting and the Dark Sun setting. With the updated portrayal, the resemblance to mantids ended.

And for the 5th edition, the Thri-Kreen are part of the first Monster Manual for the first time.

Art.

Even when taken at it’s own merits, the artwork looks disappointing. There are no real indications of the size of the creature. The perspectives also seem off, and I don’t get the sense that this creature is able to leap 15 feet from a standing start. The portrayal also suggests a beak instead of mandibles, and despite having natural armour and the ability to change its colour to match its surroundings, it’s wearing armour on its chest and shoulders for some reason.

But in comparison to the art from earlier editions, it looks awful. You would never guess that these creatures were supposed to be called mantis warriors, while in the previous editions, it was clear as day. The facial features of the mantis have been replaced with a visage that is supposed to be more alien. Compared to the artwork by John Dollar (my personal favourite depiction), the current 5e portrayal looks cold, pretty emotionless and without much warmth. I have no idea why the need for the portrayal of the thri-kreen was changed, as the mantis are one of the most appealing creatures and among the most famous of insects, and it seems odd that the artwork has moved away from being mantid-like to now being generic bug men.

As an aside, in 2001, a new order of insects were discovered, called the Mantophasmatodea, and gained the common name of Gladiators. Not only that, they also lived in hot, dry environments and looked incredibly similar to the thri-kreen as portrayed in second edition.

Lore

For the lore, there are hardly any references to the social structure of the Kreen, or even if these creatures have a social structure. All of the lore for the creatures seems to be written for solitary hunting, and in this edition, they cannot speak at all - unlike in previous editions, the creatures are unable to speak common and use a language without words. The lore also has one section entitled “Limited Emotions”, then states that Thri-Kreen experience the full range of emotions, just that they aren’t as prone to oubursts as humans. What?

It goes on to explain how all other creatures are considered as potential food, and that elf flesh is a favourite, and how thri-kreen kill to survive, and why the kreen have such short life spans. Thankfully, they have left out the statistics of young kreen in this edition, though sadly they have left out the spacefaring Xixchill and the noble tohr-kreen from the lore. Here’s hoping with the next guide on monsters they include a section on the different kinds of kreen (and there are a lot from Thri-Kreen of Athas that they could refresh).

Currently, the lore restricts them to the hot, dry areas of the world, and any interaction with them would likely be the predator vs prey aspect of the Thri-Kreen psyche.

Mechanics

Due to its high perception and stealth modifiers, the chameleon carapace (which in earlier editions, was part of the psionic powers of Thri-Kreen) and the standing leap, the thri-kreen makes an effective anbush hunter, a creature that picks up the trail of the party then stalks the creature waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

In terms of attacks, now the Thri-Kreen just has two, instead of the ludicrous numbers that came with being a creature with two pairs of arms and a poison bite, and one of those attacks is one with its bite. Unless it has the racial weapons of the Kreen, in which case it just has two weapon attacks and cannot use it’s bite attacks.

The creature is no longer immune to sleep effects and spells such as charm person with its new classification of Humanoid, which coupled with the lessened attacks makes it less formidable than in previous editions, though the psionic version with Blur and Magic Weapon mean its still a pretty tough opponent for Tier 1 characters on their own or Tier 2 as part of a clutch, especially now the poison bite attack of the kreen doesn’t have a limit on the amount of uses per day.

Plot Hooks.

As the weather control dweomers are placed over the whispering desert, the thri-kreen have to find new hunting grounds. Can the players find a new place for the pack to hunt?

On the edge of the broken chapparal, a smallholding reports that several of their animals have gone missing. Who are the ones responsible?

A tribe of Wood Elves are migrating across the Shaar to new hunting grounds in the Forest of Amtar. Will the players need to keep the Mantis Folk at bay?

A migrating herd of buffalo are passing though the territory of a tribe, and the kreen will be following. Can the kreen be convinced that the tribe are not prey and to keep their hunting to wild game?

Verdict.

The first time the Kreen have appeared in the first edition of the Monster Manual, but perhaps it was too soon, as it results in a creature that isn't particulary versatile and deserves more considering it's history. Hopefully when the time comes for a new Guide to Monsters, the kreen will get a section of their own.

[the_brazenburn]

I kind of like the thri-kreen art. It makes sense that they look kind of detached and emotionless, given their fluff and low emotional sensitivity, and I don't think they need to be mantis warriors. I've always preferred to think of them as myrmykes (mangled spelling, sorry) i.e. ant warriors.

The gytha and chatcka weapons are pretty cool as well.

[RedMage125]

Eagerly awaiting the next monster.

[Sharur]

To start off: I don't like monstrous PC races. I don't like post-apocalyptic settings like Darksun. And I am not a huge fan of most psionic systems (although it should be said that 5e's pseudo-psionic system is basically a re-skinning of the innate spellcasting trait, which I like well enough). So, I'm not predisposed to liking the Thri-kreen, and my negatives should be taken with a grain of salt.

I find that the art is strangely good, because it incorporates features that are mantis-like, but not immediately so. To put it another way, I didn't think it looked much like a mantis, until I actually googled some mantis pictures from comparison. I like the triangular head, and the picture of the Thri-kreen does indeed have a mandible showing, in a manner that mimics what I've seen in multiple (though on first glance, it appeared to be a jawline). I also can appreciate the "plate armor" look as a chitinous exoskeleton, which mantises do possess (although theirs is more focused on their top/back as that is where most of their threats come from). And while I don't get the sense that it is a great leaper, the only thing that the Bullywug art has to make me think that of them is a frog's head.

There are somethings that I don't like about the picture, however. First is the stance of the figure, which instead of inspiring or reflecting the Thri-kreen's stealth abilities, shows it being surprised and flat-footed. I'd also prefer it to have an insectoid abdomen and the posture to go with that (which was probably scraped to make it accessible as a PC player race), and to have its eyes more "exposed" rather than solely forward facing.

Sidebar: Unlike the_brazenburn, I've never thought of Thri-kreen as "ant" creatures, partially, because "lawful" eusocial behavior is part and parcel of being an ant, to me, and partially because earlier editions of D&D already had an ant monster in the Formians (not to be confused with the Formorians, discussed earlier in the thread, if not the precursor thread).

I quite like the Thri-kreen lore, what little there is of it. Most insects communicate by pheromones and antenna movements, rather than more typical humanoid facial expressions or vocal tics. It makes logical sense for the Thri-kreen to share these traits (and seem emotionless to outsiders), and makes them feel unique and different to me, rather than a short human/pointy-eared human/ human with a rubber forehead, etc.

I also quite liked the way that they fit into their alignment, although I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Its refreshing to see a chaotic neutral character who is not all about destruction, like the slaad, the supposed extra-planner exemplars of chaotic evil, who seem more evil than chaotic. It also helps reframe the alignment conversation. These creatures are chaotic because they don't care about the social structure, not regarding other beings as being part of their idea of persons.

Finally, I am a fan of the sprinkled "racial tensions", like the Thri-kreen liking the taste of Elves, Hobgoblins hating Elves, or Bullettes favoring halflings as prey. It gives another dimension to vary up combats. I play orcs and undead as straightforward brutes in combat: they will charge the nearest threat and gang up on them, then repeat. A more disciplined foe, like a Githyanki, might take a route around the front liners and strike at the weaker enemies in the backline, or at the concentrating cleric, who is also the source of healing. In the first instance, my players tend to crush their foes, but get crushed by the second. Compare this with a Hobgoblin, who might approach in disciplined formation (getting their Martial Advantage damage), until they see the Elf ranger, become enraged and charge loosing all cohesion.

Mechanics: Here is where I feel let down, or more specifically, with the variants. The base Thri-kreen is fine; as a low-level CR 1 foe it is fine, and can be used initially to spell out "we're not in Kansas/Oerth" any more or as a hunting pack to challenge a somewhat higher level party.

The psionic abilities (aka innate spell casting) are just okay, but nothing special. The "psionic standard" invisible mage hand is present, as are the "invisibility" spell itself (which makes the Thri-Kreens stealth advantages mostly redundant, except in regards to fleeing), and "magic weapon". The later spell gives a statistically significant but not especially flashy or noticeable boost to a weapon attack. Note that as written, it does not apply to natural attacks, but only weapons, so it is more useful on the weapon wielding variant.

Speaking of:
The Chatkcha is a decent weapon, essentially a cross between a dart and a javelin the deals slashing damage. One interesting thing is (baring tavern brawler), your PCs won't be able to pick it up and return fire effectively, due to a lack of proficiency. However, seeing as it is a thrown weapon, using "Magic Weapon" on it will generally not be as effective as using it on a melee weapon.

The is the main source of my disappointment is the Gythka: a two-handed slashing pole arm without reach or other special features, and only marginal more damage than the claw. It even preempts the use of a bite attack with the multi-attack option.

About the only interesting things in the thri-kreens combat toolkit are: stealth ambush at the beginning, the bite poison, and its multi-attack which is only remarkable because of the low CR.

[DerKommissar]

Work is killing me this month, but should find time round christmas to write about the treant :)

[DerKommissar]

Happy New Year! Starting 2019 with the

Treant

Introduction
The Ent was one of the first D&D Creatures introduced in the "White Box Set" in 1974. For copyright reasons the name was changed to Treant, but it stayed the same: a humanoid tree protecting the forest.

Art
The art is okay, I like that there are still leaves and mushrooms growing out of the Treant. The face looks a bit like a drunkard, which is not bad for the fluff per se, but in my opinion the face is too human without good purpose (see in the fluff section). Odd thing is that it seems to have four arms, but the description talks about "its arms" and I kinda like the idea of it having multiple arms and legs, so: why not :)

Purpose and Tactics
The Treant is straight forward: Good Armor and Hitpoints combined with a solid physical resistance, which is not even bypassed by magical bludgeoning/piercing attacks. It has a good chance to hit and does quite some damage, though its reach of 5ft. is pathetic, expecially for a huge Creature. The ranged option is strong, though its a up to the DM if there are any rocks around to throw. The rocks combined with the siege monster trait make them very good against structures, as 8d10+12 is huge damage. They are weak against fire as usual, which still makes makes no sense at all. All in all the Treant is a solid Brute.

Two things make it stand out and justify CR9:

1) The Treant is an excellent ambush fighter. Even as it has no skills, the False Appearance should enable it to a surprise round.

2) The Treant can animate up to 2 trees which have the same stats as the Treant. In my opinion this is a great tool for the DM as she can decide on the spot if there are one, two or three Trees fighting against/by the side of the heroes

So a Treant can stay camoflaged as a Tree, then use its suprise round to awaken two trees thus encircling its opponents and have the awakened trees keep them busy in melee while pelting them with rocks.
Aside from combat they can fill basically every role you need them to: They can be quest-givers, unexpected antagonists, allied forces of the heroes, can provide rare knowledge or could be even used as a material component in something sinister.

Fluff
The fluff section is Ent/Treant 101:
Some Trees have the potential to turn into a guardian of the forest and transform into a more or less anthropomorphic Treant. Those have some powers over nature (animating other trees and control over some animals), but the text is ambiguous if every Treant possesses them. They are chaotic good and won't go after people respecting the forest, but will attack those who try to destroy the forest. So basically its the classic Ent/Treant from Middle Earth and every other Fantasy World featuring similar creatures.

Spoiler: Thoughts on Treant Physiology

Show

I get that its not necessary to explain everything in a magic world, but I would be curious about their biology: The picture shows a humanoid face, complete with eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, nose, mouth and something like a chin - in the text they are called "face-like features". But what does it do with those? I guess the mouth is for talking and the eyes for seeing, the nose for smelling, but should a Treant really need to grow a nose to be able to smell? Does it have to eat with its new mouth and if so: what does it eat? Meat? Plants? If you poke it in the eye will it go blind? I know that the Treant is a classic and the anthropomorphic features don't bother me. But I always like those more alien creatures and I think the Treant should be one of them.

Hooks
A group of dwarves have a camp in an old forest and are producing charcoal, as the old, somewhat magic Trees make the perfect coal for smithing. Recently some of the woodcutters got lost in the woods and the dwarves will pay handsomely if someone could ensure their safety.

Treants can grow very very old, but even they have to die at some point. Oaksplint the great knows that his time will come soon and is worried about the protection of his forest. He senses that a new Treant will emerge soon, but the new guardian is not fully awoken yet and he knows that a group of mercenaries is roaming the woods in search for the young Treant to fell it and sell its priced materials to reckless alchemists.

A wood elf bard is in need of assitance: He wants to discover old elven songs from a long extinct tribe of wood elves. He knows that in their former forest lives an elder Treant and he is sure that he could help him with his knowledge. The problem is to find said Treant and get him to talk, as he was not seen in years and he suspects the Treant to be sleeping.

Verdict
I did not check, but I am very confident that every Monster Manual through the editions featured a Treant and it is right to do so: They are a fantasy staple and all in all solid creatures which do not disappoint.

[DerKommissar]

So it seems there is no big discussion about the Treant. Any takers for the Troglodyte? I will write up the Troll meanwhile :)

[Sharur]

I can do the Troglodytes...I should have it up tonight or tomorrow...

[DerKommissar]

I can do the Troglodytes...I should have it up tonight or tomorrow...

Would do the Troll soon - are you still going to do the Troglodyte entry?

[Sharur]

Sorry, life (and a week from hell at work) got in the way...without further ado:

Introduction
Originally coming from a Latin term for a "cave dweller", the Troglodyte has a long history both with the game and me personally. In addition to dating back all the way to 1st edition, they are also some of the first monsters I ever faced in D&D. They also appear in the classic "Against the Cult of the Reptile God".

Art
Earlier editions gave these reptilians weapons and bandoleers, making them a subterranean counterpart to the lizard-folk. Fifth edition has (wisely, in my opinion) differentiated the two, making the lizard folk more "in tune with nature, using tools from nature, and occasionally red in tooth and claw" while the Troglodyte is the more cruel, destruction for destruction's sake mindless

Appearance-wise, lizard-folk look more crocodilian, while the Troglodyte looks more like a monitor lizard, like a komodo dragon (which is appropriate, as earlier editions had monitor lizards accompany Troglodyte bands). I also detect a passing resemblance to the Death Slaad of all things.

Personally, I quite like the art on this piece. The jagged uneven claws look menacing and I quite like blood that seems to be drooling out of its its mouth.

Purpose and Tactics
I feel that the Troglodyte is a great introductory monster, for both sides of the screen. A short summery of its features.
1. HP on par with a first level fighter: allow
2. A much lower AC than a goblin, allowing even unoptimized characters to hit reliably.
3. An introduction to dark-vision (if PCs don't have it), stealth, and the advantage mechanic
4. An introduction to saving throws, and imposing disadvantage via its stench. It's also an easy save and grants immunity to all troglodytes for an hour, so it doesn't come up continually.
5. An introduction to multi-attack, and the idea of monsters being built differently than PCs (especially for players with experience with earlier editions or other systems, where monsters and PCs behaved the same i.e. "monsters with class levels".
6. Sunlight sensitivity, and the disavantage it imposes is useful for keeping these creatures somewhat at bay, and keeping the multi-attack from downing your frontline's in one go.

Tactically, there's nothing really interesting about the troglodyte "go up and beat on things", other then their close range stench aura, but strategically, they are a great tool for a new, novice DM.

The troglodyte's first encounter could be them brazenly attacking in the daylight, allowing the PCs the protection of disadvantage. If and when the PCs have to track them to their lair, the PCs advantage slips away, and the Troglodytes can gain the upper hand with their stealth proficiency.

Fluff
A completely uncivilized monster, who is willing to destroy ; with the removal of Draconic, almost all ability to parley with the creature is gone. The interesting bit of their lore is their one-sided relationship with their demonic god; he does not persuade them or force them; rather he just exists and they emulate him.

Hooks
1. Abduction: After stopping a daytime attack, the PCs must track the monsters back to their lair to recover what remains of those who had previously been taken
2. Sable-scale's Guard Dogs: The black dragon Sable-scale's underground lair has some hidden guardians the PCs will have to bypass if they want to hunt down the dragon herself.
3. What Lurks in the Sewers: Cowardly Ambrose had gathered up the courage to ask his love to marry him, but the ring fell into a storm drain that led into the sewers below the city. Terrified of rumors of alligators in the sewers, Ambrose asks the party to retrieve it, but what really lurks in the those stench-filled depths?
4. A Crappy Warning System(Curtesy of my first DM): After botching their Perception rolls, the party steps in something warm, squishy and foul-smelling: a crude warning system developed by Troglodytes.

Verdict
A reasonably good monster to start off with, for a new player on either side of the DM screen.

[Astofel]

Huh, somehow in my mind I'd gotten mixed up and thought that troglodytes were grimlocks and completely forgotten that these lizards even existed. Now that I remember though I quite like the look of them. The group I DM for is a bit high-level to be threatened by these things now, but I'll try keep them in mind for next time I run at low levels.

The other thing I want to see from these guys is a PC race. I think it'd be fun to convert a bunch of Underdark species into PC races and run a campaign based on that. We already have drow, duergar, and svirfneblin, but the Underdark has so much more to offer.

[DerKommissar]

Troll

Introduction

The real life origin of the Troll lies in Scandinavia. They were described as rather ugly and dumb creatures that live in isolated mountainous places in small family units and were considered dangerous to humans. Sometimes they were described as man-eaters and that they turn to stone in sunlight forming particular landmarks. Aside from the Norse Myth they are widely known fantastic creatures (my first contact with Trolls was in “The Hobbit” (Book) and later in “Lord of the Rings” (Movie). In D&D they exist since first edition. They are known for being strong and notoriously hard to kill without the right means and they tend to spread fear when you learn that you are up against them.

Art

The art does the trick for me: It’s kind of an action shot, the facial expression is good and overall it’s an evocative picture. Not much else to say about it in my opinion, it’s a solid Troll depiction.

Purpose and Tactics

Trolls are fearless brutes, who know that they are almost un-killable. Their physical stats are good, with very high endurance, high strength and decent dexterity. Their mental stats suck as to be expected. They are on the lower end of CR 5 though. In comparison to 3.5 Edition they seriously toned them down, as the 5e regeneration is much more forgiving (and thankfully no non-lethal damage mechanic!) and they lost the “rend” effect for double damage if both claws hit.
[As a side note I find the 5e regeneration a bit unintuitive as it’s negated already by one point of fire damage.]

It’s also noteworthy that in their claw/claw/bite routine the claws are stronger than the bite which IIRC is mostly not the case with other creatures.
The keen smell is immersive and I used this in the past to good effect.

The idea, that they assimilate traits of creatures they eat and/or mutate out of lost limbs make them great candidates for easy upscaling as it opens up new possibilities: fire immune trolls, trolls with four arms, etc. etc. I think Volos Guide (?) has some Troll Variants that build on this trait.

Finally they are intelligent creatures which makes them the more dangerous. I often use Trolls in my adventures when my Player Characters reach mid-levels and so far they never disappointed.

There is also the loathsome limbs variant: if you deal enough slashing damage you can dismember a Troll. This creates potentially new opponents (arms) and might disable the Troll. All in all a nice idea, but I find it odd that they implement a dismemberment mechanic for the Troll (as they can regenerate) and not for other creatures (which would make them easy kills). But all in all an immersive variant.

Fluff
Trolls pay for their regeneration with a voracious appetite and it seems they are true omnivores with a very strong tendency to meat. They tend to live in small groups, where (according to general lore) females typically are larger, and more powerful, than males, but they have no society to speak of. They can be hired as mercenaries but are difficult to control.
Their mutating nature fills a fantasy staple niche that I really like (ranging up to post-nuclear apocalypse scenarios).

Hooks

It is said, that there are vast treasures stored in the basement of an old castle ruin. But an old and blind, yet very strong Troll Cook is roaming the basement always looking for new ‘ingredients’ for his filthy stews. Are the heroes able to escape his heightened hearing and smelling senses?

Troll Blood is extremely valuable, as the green viscous liquid is used in the manufacture of poisons, antidotes and certain potions of healing. But it is very difficult to obtain: While Trolls are alive it is impossible to bleed them, as their regeneration instantly seals any blood loss and even when they are dead it is still difficult without the proper knowledge. The heroes are hired by a master alchemist who knows how to get the blood once the troll is dead, but is himself not much of a fighter. Are the heroes able to ensure both his safety and at least one dead troll?

Recently a remote village lost quite some citizens to a freak orc tribe. It turns out the orcs had the idea to capture some trolls alive and keep them chained up while eating them. They feed back their garbage to the Trolls to keep them re-growing limbs. The toxic Troll meat had a very strong effect on the Orcs, giving them higher strength and resistance, while in turn increasing the rate of mutations and making them more feral. Now in their blood lust they roam further and further from their original territory to look for victims to kill and eat.

Verdict

A classic among classics, the 5e Troll is a solid creature based on a solid concept. In my opinion you can’t go wrong with Trolls…

[DerKommissar]

Not a lot of activity here anymore. Is there still interest in continuing the entries? Could do the umberhulk, but not sure if theres still demand...